Officer shoots suspected burglar in northeast Houston

Houston police say they caught a man red handed, breaking into a northeast side home early this morning. They say they tried to avoid shooting the man, but he gave them no choice.

"The gentleman was just walking down, messing with everyone's yard," said a resident well call 'Christina,' who wanted us to conceal her identity. "I don't know what was wrong with him."

That was the beginning of a situation which would lead police to shoot the man, according to Christina. She didn't want to appear on camera, but says she called police yesterday afternoon when the man wouldn't leave her front gate.

He disappeared before police arrived, but she believes he came back hours later.

"Just screaming 'come out,' but of course you couldn't see his face," said Christina.

As he made his way down the street to a neighbor's house, her husband followed after with his gun. She says to make sure their neighbors were OK. Police were called again.

"I heard the gunshots," said Christina "I was worried because of my husband. He was over there."

Police say they arrived to find the suspect at the back of the house. A screen and window were broken and the man was holding a long pipe.

Officers say he ignored verbal commands, and was not subdued when he was hit with two Tasers. When police pulled out a bean bag shotgun, they say he became agitated.

"He started coming at them with the large metal pipe, in kind of a stabbing motion toward them," said Lt. John Cannon with the Houston Police Department. "It gave them no choice. It gave our one officer who discharged his weapon no choice."

The suspect was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Neighbor Keith Nayra was called home by his sister, who recorded the incident on her cell from across the street.

"You can hear the gunshots going off," said Nayra. "You can hear the five gunshots."

He hesitated to release the video to us because the police asked them not to do so, but did allow us to see it. His sister is the woman's voice.

"You can hear the gunshots going off," said Nyra. "You can hear the five gunshots."

The residents at the home where this happened remained silent this morning, but not Christina, who is overwhelmed, but thankful no one else was hurt.

"I'm not happy with the way it went, but I'm glad they got the guy," she said.